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TWO CHAPTERS 



EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON, 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 

George E. Littlefield, 67 Cornhill, Boston, 

Will send by post, on receipt of the price, any of the 

following publications : — 

An Historical Address, Bi-centennial and Centen- 
nial, delivered at Groton, Massachusetts, July 4, 1876. Octavo, 
paper cover. 86 pages. Price $1.00. 

An Historical Address delivered at Groton, Massachusetts, 
February 20, 1880, at the dedication of three monuments erected 
by the town. Octavo, paper cover. 56 pages. Price 50 cents. 

Count William de Deux-Ponts's Campaigns in America, 
1780-1781. Translated from the French Manuscript, with an Intro- 
duction and Notes. Octavo, paper cover. Pp. xvi. 176. Price $2.00. 

Epitaphs from the Old Burying Ground in Groton, 
Massachusetts. With Notes and an Appendix. Illustrations. 
Octavo, cloth. Pages xix. 271. Price $3.00. 

The Early Records of Groton, Massachusetts, 1662- 
1707. With Notes. Octavo, cloth. 201 pages. Price $2.00. 

History of Medicine in Massachusetts. A Centennial 
Address delivered before the Massachusetts Medical Society at 
Cambridge, June 7, 1881. Octavo, cloth. 131 pages. Price $1.00. 



TWO CHAPTERS 



EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON, 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



BY SAMUEL ABBOTT GREEN, M.I). 



BOSTON : 

PRESS OF DAVID CLAPP & SON. 

1882. 



THE MEMOKT < >F 

THE liRAVE MEN AND HARDY WOMEN" 

WHO FIBS* SETTLED THE PLANTATION OE GBOTON, 

THESE PAGE? 

ARE INSCRIBED BY THE WRITER. 



I purpose to write a history of my native town, beginning 
with her earliest settlement and coming down to the present 
day. During many years she stood in the midst of a wilder- 
ness, and was exposed to all the trials of frontier life. She 
suffered much from hardships and want, as well as from the 
savage warfare of the Indians. Her original territory has 
been cut up, and now she is a mother of towns. In for- 
mer years she exerted much influence in the neighborhood, 
and her experiences make a story worth telling. 



[Reprinted from " The New-England Historical and Genealogical Register " 
for January and April, 1882.] 



CHAPTERS IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON, 
MASSACHUSETTS. 



No. I. 

THE town of Groton lies in the north-western part of Middle- 
sex County, Massachusetts, and is bounded on the north by 
Pepperell and Dunstable ; on the east by Tyngsborough and West- 
ford ; on the south by Littleton and Ayer ; and on the west by Shir- 
ley and Townsend. The First Parish meeting-house — or tf the tall- 
spired church " — is situated in 

Latitude 42° 36' 21.4" north, 
Longitude 71° 34' 4" west of Greenwich, 
according to the latest observations of the United States Coast Sur- 
vey. It is distant nearly thirty-one miles in a straight line from the 
State House at Boston, but by the travelled road it is about thirty- 
four miles. The village of Groton is situated principally on one 
long street, known as Main Street, which was formerly one of 
the principal thoroughfares between Eastern Massachusetts and 
parts of New Hampshire and Vermont. The Worcester and 
Nashua Railroad passes through it, and traverses the township at 
nearly its greatest length, running perhaps six miles or more within 
its limits. It is reached from Boston by trains on the Fitchburg 
Railroad, connecting with the Worcester and Nashua road at Ayer, 
three miles distant from the village. 

The original grant of the township was made in the spring of 
1655, and gave to the proprietors a tract of land eight miles square ; 
though subsecjuently this was changed by the General Court, so that 
its shape varied somewhat from the first plan. It comprised all of 
what is now Groton, nearly all of Pepperell, Shirley and Ayer, 
parts of Harvard and Westford, in Massachusetts, and a small por- 
tion of Nashua, in New Hampshire. The present shape of the town 
is very irregular, and all the original boundary lines have been 
changed except where they touch Townsend and Tyngsborough. 

There were two petitions for the plantation of Groton, of which 
one was headed by Mr. Deane Winthrop, and the other by Lieuten- 
ant William Martin. The first one is not known to be in existence, 
but a contemporaneous copy of the second is in the possession of the 
New England Historic, Genealogical Society. The names append- 
ed to it vary in the style of handwriting, but they do not appear to 
be autographs, and may have been written by the same person, flic 
answer to the petition is given officially on the third page of the 
2 



G EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON. 

paper, and signed by Edward Rawson, secretary of the colony, 
which fact renders it probable that this is the petition actually pre- 
sented to the General Court as the original one, after it had been 
copied by a skilful penman. This interesting document was found 
many years ago among the papers of the late Captain Samuel Shep- 
ley, by Mr. Charles TV r oolley, then of Groton, but now of Waltham, 
and by him given to the Historic, Genealogical Society. It is written 
on the first page of a folio sheet, and the answer to it by the General 
Court appears on the third page of the paper. Near the top of the sheet 
are the marks of stitches, indicating that another paper at one time 
had been fastened to it. Perhaps the petition headed by Deane 
Winthrop was attached when the colonial secretary wrote the deci- 
sion of the General Court, beginning, " In Ans r to both theise peti- 
cons." The grant of the plantation was made by the Court of As- 
sistants on the 25th of May, 1655 — as appears by this document — 
though subject to the consent of the House of Deputies, which was 
given, in all probability, on the same day. In the absence of other 
evidence, this may be considered the date of the incorporation, which 
is not found mentioned elsewhere. 

In early times, as a rule, the proceedings of the General Court 
were not dated day by day, — though there are exceptions to it, — but 
the time of the beginning of the session is always given ; and in the 
printed edition of the "Records" this date, in the absence of any 
other, is frequently carried along without authority. For this rea- 
son it is often impossible to tell the exact day of legislation in the 
early history of the colony. 

The petition is as follows : — 

To the honored Generall Courte asembled at Boston the humble petion 
of vs whose names ar here viuler written humbly shoeth 

That where as youre petioners by a pronidence of god hane beene 
brought oner in to this wildernes and lined longe here in : and being sum- 
thing straightned for that where by subsistance in an ordinarie waie of 
gods prouidence is to be had, and Considdering the a lowanee that god giues 
to the sunesof men for such an ende: youre petioners request there fore is 
that you would he pleased to grant vs a place for a plantation vpon the 
Kiiier that runes from Nashaway in to merimake at a place or a boute a 
place Caled petaupaukett and wabansconcett and youre petioners shall pray 
for youre happy prosedings 

WilliVm: Martin 
Richard Blood 
John witt 
\YiLLi a :u Lakin 
Richard Haukn 
Timothy Cooper 
John Lakin 
John Blood 
Mathu farrington 
Robeut Blood. 



EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON. 



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8 EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON. 

The petition is written on the first page of the sheet, and the an- 
swer to it is given on the third page, which runs thus : 

In Ans r to both theise peticons The Court Judgeth it meete to graunt 
the peticone r s eight miles square in the place desired to make a Comfortable 
jilantacon web henceforth shall be Called Groaten formely knowne by the 
name of Petapawage : that M r Damforth of Cambridge w th such as he shall 
Asossiate to him shall and hereby is desired to lay it out wi'h all Convenj- 
ent speede that so no Incouragement may be wanting to the Peticone r s for 
a speedy procuring of a godly minister amongst them. Provided that none 
shall enjoy any part or porcon of that land by guift from the selectmen of 
that place but such who shall build bowses on theire lotts so given them 
once w'liin eighteene months from the tjme of the sayd Townes laying out 
or Tow lies graunt to such persons ; and for the p r sent M r Dearie Winthrop 
M r Jn° Tinker M r Tho : Hinckly Dolor Davis. W". Martin Mathew ffar- 
ington John Witt and Timothy Couper are Appointed the selectmen for the 
sayd Towne of Groaten for one two yeares from the tjme it is layd out, to 
lav out and dispose of particular lotts not exceeding twenty acres to each 
howse lott, And to Order the prudentiall affaires of the place at the end of 
which tyme other selectmen shall be chosen and Appointed in theire 
roomes : the selectmen of Groaton giving M r Danforth such satisfaction for 
his service & paines as they & he shall Agree ; 

The magist s haue past this wi'h reference to the Consent of theire breth- 
eren the depu's hereto 

25 of May 1655. Edward Rawson Secrety 

The Deputies Consent hereto William Torrey Cleric. 

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EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON. J 

The entry made in the General Court Records, by Secretary Raw- 
son, at the time of the grant, is substantially the same as his en- 
dorsement on this petition, though it gives some of the names 
appended to the other petition. It begins as follows: 

" In Ans r to the peticon of M r Deane Winthrop M r Jn° Tincker M r Tho: 
Hinckly &c & of Lieu Wm Martin Timothy Cooper &c The Court Judg- 
eth it meete to Graunt" etc. (iv. 204.) 

The record of the House of Deputies is also practically the same, 
though there are a few verbal discrepancies. It begins : 

" There beinge a pet. p r ferd hy M r Dean Winthrop M r Tho : Hinckley & 
divers others for a plantation vpon the riuerthat Runs from Nashaway into 
Merimacke called petapawage & an other from some of the Inhabitants of 
Concord for a plantation in the same place to both which the Court returned 
this answer that the Court Thinkes meet to graunt " etc. (hi. 462.) 

The following letter from the Honorable J. Hammond Trumbull, 
whose authority in such matters is unquestioned, gives the mean- 
ing and derivation of the Indian name of the town. 

Hartford, Dec. 22, 1877. 

My dear Dr. Green. — Petaapauket and Petapawage are two forms of 
the same name, the former having the locative postposition (-et), meaning 
"at" or "on" a place ; and both are corruptions of one or the other of 
two Indian names found at several localities in New England. From which 
of the two your Groton name came, I cannot decide without some know- 
ledge of the place itself. I leave you the choice, confident that one or the 
other is the true name. 

" Pootuppog," used by Eliot for "bay," in Joshua, xv. 2, 5, literally 
means "spreading" or "bulging water," and was employed to designate 
either a local widening of a river making still water, or an inlet from a 
river expanding into something like a pond or lake. Hence the name of a 
part of (old) Saybrook, now Essex, Conn., which was variously written 
Pautapaug, Poattapoge, Potabauge, and, later, Pettipaug, &c, so designated 
from a spreading cove or inlet from Connecticut River. Pottapoug Pond 
in Dana, Mass., with an outlet to, or rather an inlet from, Chicopee River, 
is probably a form of the same name. So is " Port Tobacco," Charles 
County, Md. (the " Potopaco" of John Smith's map), on the Potomac. 

But there is another Algonkin name from which Pelaupauk and some 
similar forms may have come, which denotes a swamp, bog, or quagmire, — 
literally, a place into which the foot, sinks ; represented by the Chippeway 
petobeg, a bog or soft marsh, and the Abnaki potepang. There is a Pauti- 
paug (otherwise, Pootapaag, Por/ipaitg, Patapogue, &c.) in the town of 
Sprague, Conn., on or near the Shetucket river, which seems to have this 
derivation. 

If there was in (ancient) Groton a pond or spreading cove, connected 
with the Nashua, Squaunicook, Nisitisset, or other stream, or a pond-like 
enlargement or " bulge " of a stream, this may, without much doubt, be 
accepted as the origin of the name. If there is none such, the name proba- 
bly came from some " watery swamp," like those into which (as the " Won- 
der-Working Providence " relates) the first explorers of Concord " sunke, 
into an uncertaine bottoine in water, and waded up to their knees." 

Yours truly, J. Hammond TRUMBULL. 



10 EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON. 

The last suggestion that the name came from an Algonkin word 
signifying swamp or bog, appears to be the correct one. There are 
many bog meadows, of greater or less extent, in different parts of 
the town. Two of the largest, — one situated on the easterly side of 
the village, and known as Half- Moon Meadow, and the other on 
the westerly side, and known as Broad Meadow, each containing 
perhaps a hundred acres of land, — are now in a state of successful 
cultivation. Before they were drained and improved, they would 
have been best described as swamps or bogs. 

It is to be regretted that so few of the Indian words have been kept 
to designate towns and other places in Massachusetts. However much 
such words may have been twisted and distorted by English pronun- 
ciation and misapplication, they furnish now one of the few links 
that connect us with prehistoric times in America. " Nashaway," 
mentioned in the petition, is the old name of Lancaster, though it 
was often spelled in different ways. Mr. Trumbull has also given 
us some interesting facts in regard to this Indian word, which I 
copy from an essay by him in the second volume of the " Collections 
of the Connecticut Historical Society " : 

"Nashaue' (Chip[pewa~|, ndssawaii and ashawiwi), 'mid-way,' or 'be- 
tween,' and with ohke or auk adder], ' the land between ' or ' the half-way 
place,' — was the name of several localities. The tract on which Lancaster, 
in Worcester County (Mass.), was settled, was 'between' the branches of 
the river, and so it was called '■Nashaway' or 'Nashawake' [nashaue -ohke) ; 
and this name was afterwards transferred from the territory to the river it 
self. There was another Nashaway in Connecticut, between Quinnehaug 
and Five-Mile Rivers in Windham county, and here, too, the mutilated 
name of the nashaue-ohke was transferred, as Ashawog or Assaicog, to the 
Five-Mile River. JVafchauy, in the same county, the name of the eastern 
branch of Shetucket river, belonged originally to the tract ' hetween ' the 
eastern and western branches; and the Shetucket itself borrows a name 
{nashaue-tuk-ut) from its place ' between ' Yantic and Quinnebaug rivers." — 
Page 33. 

The town is indebted for its name to Deane Winthrop, a son of 
Governor John Winthrop and one of the petitioners for its incorpo- 
ration. He was born at Groton, Suffolk, in Old England ; and the 
love of his native place prompted him to perpetuate its name in 
New England. He stands at the head of the first list of select- 
men appointed by the General Court, and for a short time was 
probably a resident of the town. 

A few years before this time, Emanuel Downing, of Salem, who 
married Lucy, a sister of Governor John Winthrop, had a very large 
farm which he called Groton. It was situated in what was after- 
ward South Danvers, but now Peabody, on the old road leading 
from Lynn to Ipswich, and thus named — says Upham in his " His- 
tory of Witchcraft " — " in dear remembrance of his wife's ancestral 
home in the old country " (1.43). Downing subsequently sold it 
to his nephews John Winthrop, Jr., and Adam Winthrop, on July 



EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON. H 

23, 1644, when he speaks of it as " his farme of Groton." The sale 
is July recorded in the Suffolk Registry of Deeds (I. 57). 

Groton in Connecticut — younger than this town hy just half a 
century, and during the Revolution the scene of the heroic Ledyard's 
death — owes its name also to the Winthrop family. New Hamp- 
shire has a Groton in Grafton County, which was called Cocker- 
mouth when first settled in the year 1106. Subsequently, however, 
the name was changed by an act of the legislature, in accordance 
with the unanimous wish of the inhabitants who approved it, on De- 
cember 7, 179(5. Some of its early settlers were from Hollis, New 
Hampshire, and others from this town. Vermont, also, has a Gro- 
ton, in Caledonia County, which received its charter on October 20, 
1789, though it was settled a short time before. The first comers 
were from Berwick, Maine, and of Scotch descent. Why the town 
was so called I am unable to say, unless it was that the fair fame and 
reputation of the one in Massachusetts had rendered the name aus- 
picious. New York, too, has a town called Groton, situated in 
Tompkins County; and Professor M. M. Baldwin, in an historical 
sketch of the place, published in the year 1868, gives the reason for 
so naming it. He says : 

" At first, the part of Locke, [New York,] thus set off was called Divi- 
sion ; but the next year [1818], it was changed to Groton, on the petition 
of the inhabitants of the town, some of whom had moved from Groton, 
Mass., and some from Groton, Conn., though a few desired the name of 
York."— (Page 8.) 

There is also a town of the name in Erie County, Ohio. 

In the middle of the last century — according to the Register, 
xxiv. 56 note, and 60, — there was a place in Roxbury sometimes 
called Groton. It was a corruption of Ureaton, the name of the man 
who kept the " Grey Hound " tavern in that neighborhood. 

Groton in England is an ancient place ; it is the same as the Gro- 
tena of Domesday Book, in which there is a record of the popula- 
tion and wealth of the town, in some detail, at the time of William 
the Conqueror, and also before him, under the Anglo-Saxon King, 
Edward the Confessor. A nearly literal translation of this census- 
return of the year 1086 is as follows : 

" In the time of King Edward [the Abbot of] Saint Edmund held Gro- 
ton for a manor, there being one carucate and a half of land. Always [there 
have been] eight villeins and five bordarii [a rather higher sort of serfs ; cot- 
ters]. Always [there has been] one plough in demesne. Always two ploughs 
belonging to homagers [tenants], and one acre of meadow. Woodland for 
ten hogs. A mill serviceable in winter. Always one work-horse, six cat- 
tle, and sixteen hogs, and thirty sheep. Two free men of half a carucate of 
land, and they could give away and sell their land. Six bordarii. Always one 
plough, and one acre of meadow [belonging to these bordarii]. It was 
then [i. c, under King Edward] worth thirty shillings, and now valued at 
forty. It is seven furlongs in length and four in breadth. In the same, 



12 EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON. 

twelve free men, and they have one carncate ; it is worth twenty shillings. 
These men could give away and sell their land in the time of the reign of 
King Edward. [The Ahbot of] Saint Edmund has the soc, protection and 
servitude. Its gelt is seven pence, but others hold there." 

This extract is taken from the fac-simile reproduction of the part 
of Domesday Book relating to Suffolk (pnge 158), which was pub- 
lished at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, in the year 
18(33. The text is in Latin, and the words are much abbreviated. 
The writing is peculiar and very difficult to decipher. The same 
entry is found, in printed characters, in the second volume of 
Domesday Book (page 359), published in the year 1783. 

Some idea of the condensed character of the record may be gath- 
ered from the following transcript from the beginning of the account 
of Groton, in which the matter within the brackets is what the Nor- 
man scrivener omitted : "Grotena[m] t[empore] r[egis] e[dvardij 
ten[uit] S[anc,tus] e[dmundus] pfroj man[erio]," etc. A carn- 
cate was a "plough land," or a farm that could be kept under til- 
lage with one plough. It is variously estimated at from twelve acres 
to a hundred. 

It is curious to note the different ways which the early settlers had 
of spelling the name ; and the same persons took little or no care to 
Avrite it uniformly. Among the documents and papers that I have 
had occasion to use in compiling a history of the town, I find the 
word spelled in nineteen different ways, viz. : Groton, Grotton, Gro- 
ten, Grotten, Grotin, Groaten, Groaton, Groatton, Grooton, Gror- 
ton, Grouton, Groughton, Growton, Growtin, Groyton, Grauton, 
Grawten, Grawton, and Croaton. From the old orthography of 
the word, or rather want of it, it may be inferred that formerly its 
pronunciation varied ; but at the present time natives of the town 
and those " to the manner born " pronounce it as if spelled Graw- 
ton. This method appears to hold good in England, as the Reverend 
John W. Way man, rector of the parent town, writes me, under 
date of August 13, 1879, that "The local pronunciation is decided- 
ly Graw-ton. The name of the parish is described in old records as 
Grotton, or Growton." I learn from trustworthy correspondents in 
the American towns of the name, that the common pronunciation of 
the word in each one of them is Graw-ton. 

The following paragraph is taken from the " Groton Mercury " of 
June, 1851, a monthly newspaper edited by the late George Henry 
Brown, post-master at that time : 

" We have noticed amongst the mass of letters received at our Post Office 
the word Groton spelled in the following different ways: Grotton, Graw- 
ton, Graton, Grotown. Groutown, Growtown, Growtan, Growten, Grow- 
ton, Gratan, Grattan, Grewton, Grothan, Graten, Groten, Grouton." 



EAKLY HISTORY OF GROTON. 13 



No. II. 

The daily life of the founders of Massachusetts would be to 
us now full of interest, but unfortunately little is known in regard 
to it. The early settlers were a pious folk, and believed in the lit- 
eral interpretation of the Scriptures, They worked hard during six 
days of the week, and kept Sunday with rigid exactness. The 
clearing of forests and the breaking up of land left little leisure for the 
use of pen and paper; and letter-writing, as we understand it, was 
not generally practised. They lived at a time when printing was 
not common and post-offices were unknown. Their lives were one 
ceaseless struggle for existence ; and there was no time or opportu- 
nity to cultivate those graces now considered so essential. Religion 
was with them a living, ever-present power ; and in that channel 
went out all those energies whieh with us find outlet in many differ- 
ent directions. These considerations should modify the opinions 
commonly held in regard to the Puritan fathers. 

The sources of information relating to the early history of Gro- 
ton are i'ew and scanty. It is only here and there in contemporane- 
ous papers, that we find any allusions to the plantation ; and from 
them we obtain but glimpses of the new settlement. The earliest 
document connected with the town after its incorporation is a peti- 
tion now among the Shattuck Manuscripts, in the possession of the 
New England Historic, Genealogical Society, which contains some 
interesting facts not elsewhere given. All the signatures to it aie 
in the same hand-writing as the body of the document ; but those of 
the committee signing the report on the back of the petition are 
autographs. The report itself is in the hand-writing of Joseph 
Hills. The document is as follows : 

BosE: 16: 3 m°: 1656 

To the Right Wo r11 the Gou. r no r the wo r11 Deput Go, r no r and Magistrates 
with the Worthy Deputies of this Hono rd Court 

The humble Peticon of Certein the intended Inhabitants of Groten, 

Humbly Sheweth 

That yo r Peticon" haueing obteined theire Request of a Plantacon 
from this honored Court, they haue made Entranc therevppon, and do 
Resolue by the Gracious Assistants of* the Lord to proceed in the sain • 
(though the greatest Number of Peticon™ for the GranC haue declyned the 
work) yet because of the Remoteness of the place. A_ Considering how heavy 
and slowe it is like to be Carried an end and with what Charge and cl i tit - 
culties it willbe Attended yo r Peticon" humble Requests are 
3 



14 EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON. 

1 That they be not nominated or included in the Country taxes vntill 
the full end of three years from these p, r nts : (in which time they Account 
theire expenc will be great to the building a house, procureing and main- 
taining of a minester &c, with all other nessessary Town Charges : they 
being "but few at present left to Carry on the whole worke) and at the end 
of the term, shall be redy by gods help to yeald thei r Kates according to 
thei r Number & abillitie & what shall be imposed, vppon them 

2 That they may haue libertie to make Choyce of an other then M r 
Danford for the Laying out their town bounds because of his desire to be 
excused by reason of his vrgent ocations otherwise, and that they be not 
strictly tyed to a square forme in theire Line Laying out 

So shall yo r Peticon rs be incoriclged in this great work, and shall as duty 
bindes pray for yo r happiness and thankfully Rest 

yo r humble Servants 

Dean Winthrop 
Dolor Davis 
Will. Martin 
Jn°. Tinker 
Richard Smith 
Robert Blood 
Jn°. Lakin 
Amose Riciienson 

In Ans. to this Peticon wee Conceiue it needfull that the Town of Gro- 
ton be freed from Rates for three years from the time of their Grant as is 
desired. 

2 d That they may Imploy any other known Artist in the room of M r 
Danfort as need shall be. 

3 d That the forme of the Town may A little varie from A due Square 
According to the discrecon of the Comitte. 

21. 3 d m°. (56) Daniel Gookin 

Joseph Hills 
John Wiswall 

The Deputyes approne of the returne of the Cofiiittee in answer to this 
petitio & desire the Consent of o r hone ld magists. hereto 

"William Torrey Gierke 

Consented to by the magists 

Edward Rawson Secret 
[Endorsed for filing:] Grotens Peticon | Entrd & x a secured p d 8 | 1656 



EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON. 



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The next document, in point of time, connected with the history 
of Groton is a petition to the General Court from John Tinker, 
one of the original selectmen of the town. It is dated October, 
1659, and preserved among the Massachusetts Archives (CXII. 
120) at the State House. In this petition Tinker makes sonic 
indirect charges against his townsmen, of which the real nature can 
now be learned only by inference. It would appear that they had 
taken land in an unauthorized manner, and their proceedings in 
other respects had obstructed the planting of the town ; and that he 
felt aggrieved in consequence of such action. Evidently the new 
plantation did not prosper during the first few years of its settle- 
ment. The petition reads thus : 

Boston To the Hono' d Gen r11 Court Assembled at Boston 

3 m° The humble Petition of Jn° Tinker 

1059 Humbly Sheweth that 

With vnfained Respect to the good and welfare of Church and Com 
onwealth yo r Petitioner hath indeauored to answer the expectation and 
desires of this hono rd Court and the whole Co m i trey In erecting setling and 
Carying an End the Af aires of Groaton, Granted and intended by this 
bono" 1 Court for a plantation, which notwithstanding (all in vaine) it Con- 
tiuueth vnpeopled and sue Like to remaine vnless by this hono rd Court some 
wise and Juditious Cofftitte be impowered to order and dispose of all 



EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON. 17 

things there about, after which no doubt it will goe on and prosper, which 
is the humble desire and Request of yo r . Petitioner that sue it may be, 
and that yo r Petitioner be admitted and appoynted faithfully to declare vnto 
aud informe the said Cofiiitte, 1 what hath allredy bin done, 2 what 
are the Grounds and Reasons wherfore it Remaineth at the stay it doeth. 
being so much desired by so many and such Considerable persons as it is, 
and •'! what bee Conceuieth needfull to the further Confirming what is 
done according to Right to every person & Cause, and the setleing such 
due order as may incoridg the Carying on of all things to a prosperous 
effect, vnto which yo r Petitioner shall redvly adress himselfe, as willing to 
submitt to the good pleasure of this lion" 1 Court & such Authorized by 
them for such due satisfacon for all his Care time cost & paines in and 
about the said plantation as shall be thought meete and humbly begging 
the good fauo r of god to Rest vppon you shall ever Remaine to the hono' a 
Court and Country 

Yo r humble Serv' Jn°. Tinker 

The comittee having prsed this peticon, do Judge y* it wilbe very con- 
venient that a Comittee of '■'>: or more meet persons be nominated & im- 
powred to Examine the pticulars therein mencconed. and make returue 
of w' they find to the Court of Election. 

Thomas Danfokth 
Anthony Stoddakd 
Roger Clap 

21. (8) 59. The Depu' approu'e of the ret. of y e . Comitee in answr: here- 
to & bane Nominated M r Dauforth M r Ephraim Child Cap 1 . Edw : .Johnson 
to be their Committee desireing o r Hono' d magists [consent] hereto 

William Torrey Cleric. 

Consented to by y e magists Edw Rawson Secret 

It would appear from the writing on it that Tinker's petition 
was referred by the General Court to a special committee, who recom- 
mended that the whole matter be considered by another committee 
with larger powers, who should report to the Court of Election. In 
accordance with this recommendation, Mr. Thomas Danforth, Cap- 
tain Edward Johnson and Ephraim Child were appointed such a 
committee. I have given their names in the order in which they 
are mentioned in the General Court Records (IV. o2I), and not as 
they appear in the approval of the committee's return on the peti- 
tion. The original report, made eighteen months afterward and 
signed with their autograph signatures, is now among the Shat- 
tuck Manuscripts in the possession of the New England Historic, 
Genealogical Society. It is dated May 23, 1661 (/' 23 (3) 1661 "), 
and bears the official action of the House of Deputies and of the 
Magistrates. Edward Rawson, the colonial secretary, made his en- 
try on the paper, May "2!), 1661. In copying the document 1 have 
followed the General Court Records, as this version of the petition 
contains fewer abbreviations and contractions. The record-book has 
been paged differently at three separate times ; the pnging marked 
in red ink has been taken in this copy. The " Comittees Returne 
ah' Groaten & Courts ordr " are as follows: 



18 EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON. 

Wee whose names are subscribed being Appointed & impowred by the 
Generall Court in octobe 1 ' 1659 for the examination of the proceedings 
about Groten plantation & the Intanglements that haue obstructed the 
planting thereof hitherto=hauing taken pajnes to travajl vnto the sajd place 
& examine the Records of forme 1 proceedings in that place as also the Ca- 
pacity of the s d place tor the enterteining of a meet noumber of persons 
that may Carry on the affairs of a Toune, doe Appliend (according to w' 
Information we haue had) that the place will Affoord a comfortable accomo- 
dation for sixty familjes at least that may subsist in a way of husband ry = 
And for such familyes as he there already planted w ch are not aboue four 
or bye acres* wee doe not finde tlieire Interest in such lands as they claiine 
is legall & Just nor yet consistant w th the Courts ends in their graunt of the 
sajd plantation. 

And for the further encouragement of such as haue now a desire &c doe 
present theuiselvs as willing to plant themselves in that place, 

Wee craue leaue humbly to leane our poore app r heutions w th this Hon- 
ored Court as followeth 

1 That the old planters & their Assignes whose names are John Thick- 
er Rich : Smith. W" Martin. Ri: blood Rob' Blood & Jn° Lakin that they 
reteine & keep as theire propriety, (of such lands as they now clajme an 
Interest in) each of them only twenty acres of meadow twenty acres for 
the house lott ten acres Intervale land & tenn acres of other vplands & 
that the same be sett out by a comittee so as may not vnequally prejudice 
such as are or may be their Neighbo 1 ' 3 

2 That the neere lands & meadows, be so diuided as may accomodate at 
least sixty familjes & for that end That the hist diuision of lands be made 
in manner following viz 1 such as haue one hundred & fifty pounds estate be 
allowed equall w th the old planters aboue & that none exceed & that none 
haue lesse then tenn acres for theire house lott & five acres of meadow two 
& a halfe acres of Intervale & two & a half of other lands for planting 
lotts in their first divission & that none be admitted to haue graunts of 
lotts there but on Condition 8 following viz' 

1 That they Goe vp. w tK theire familjes w th in 2 yeares after theire 
graunts, on penalty of forfeiting theire graunts againe to the Towne & so 
many tenn shillings as they had acres Graunted them for theire houselotts 
& that the like Injunction be putt vpon those aboue named as old planters. 

2 That all towne charges both Civil & Eccleasiasticall be levyed accord- 
ing to each mans Graunt in this first divition of lands for seuen yeares next 
Ensuing Excepting only such whose stocks of catle shall exceed one hun- 
dred & fifty pounds estate. 

;! That the power of Admission of Inhabitants & Regulating the affaires 
of the sajd place be referred to a comittee of meete persons Impowred by 
this Court thereto, Vntill the plantation be in some good measure (at least) 
filled w' h Inhabitants & be enabled regularly & peaceably to Carry on y e 
same themselves 

4 That this Honoured Court be pleased to graunt them Imunitjes [from] 
all Comon & Ordinary Country charges not exceeding a single rate or a 
Rate & a half p Annfi for three yeares nex 1 ensuing. 



* The won! "acres" occurs at the end of a line in the manuscript records, and appears 
to In- an interpolation. The sense does not require it, and the original copy in the library 
of the New England Historic, Genealogical Society does not contain it, though the print- 
ed edition of the Oeneia! Court Records gives it. 



EARLY HISTORY OF GROTON. 1 9 

5 That in Graunting of lotts children haue theire due Consideration w th 
estates theire paren'" giving securitje to defray y r charges of the place as is 
before p r mised. 

Tho Danforth 
Edward Johnson 
Ephr. Child 

The Court Approoves of & doe Confirme the returne of the Comittee 
& doe hereby further orde r & Impower the aforesajd Comittee for the ends 
aboue mentioned vntill meete men shall be found amongst such as shall 
Inhabit there & be approoved of by a County Court 

(General Court Records, iv. 371.) 

The next document, in point of time, found among the Archives 
(I. 21) at the State House and relating to Groton, is the following 
request for a brandniark, which was wanted probably for marking 
cattle. 

The Humble Request of Joseph Parker to the Honoured Governo' the 
Honourd magistrates & deputyes, Humbly Requests in behalfe of the towne 
of Grawton that the letter GR may bee recorded as the brand mark 
belonging to the towne I being Chosen Counstible this year make bolde to 
present this, to the Honoured Court it being but my duty, in the townes 
behalfe thus Hopeing the Honored Court will giant my request I rest yo 1 
Humble Servant Joseph Parker 

Boston: 31 th : may: 1GGG 

In answer to this motion the Deputies approue of the letters GR to be y e 
brand marke of groaten William Torrey Cleric 

O r Honor 1 "' 1 magists consentinge hereto 

Consented by the magists Edward Rawson Secret 7 

During- this period the town was paying- some attention to* the 
question of marks for trees as well as for cattle. At a general meet- 
ing held on March 5, 1665-66, it was voted that there should be 
trees " marked for shade for cattell in all common hy waves : " 
and furthermore that "the marke should be a great TV' From 
various expressions found in the early town records, it would seem 
that the country in the neighborhood was not densely wooded when 
the settlement was first made. At a meeting of the selectmen held 
in the winter of 1669, an order was passed for the preservation of 
trees, but the writing is so torn that it is impossible to copy it. At 
another meeting held on January lo, 1673-74, it was voted that 
all trees of more than six inches in diameter at the butt, excepting 
walnut and pine, growing by the way-side, should be reserved for 
public works, and that the penalty for cutting them down, without 
authority, should be ten shillings a tree. 

At a general town meeting on December 21, 1674, leave was 
granted' to William Longley, Jr., to cut down three or four trees 
standing in the road near his farm and shading his corn, upon con- 
dition that lie give to the town the same number of trees for mend- 
ing the highways. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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